Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) expects BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) to place an additional follow on order for 4G expansion throughout India. Currently, the order is for 1 lakh sites across the country. BSNL is getting help from a TCS led consortium which includes C-DoT (Centre for Development of Telematics) and Tejas Networks. C-DoT is offering the network core while all the RAN (Radio Access Network) products are coming from Tejas. TCS is playing the role of systems integrator (SI) here.
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NG Subramaniam, TCS advisor for Telecom Strategic Intiative and Chairman of Tejas Networks, in a conversation with ET said that they are handing over the sites to BSNL as and when the isntallation, commissioning and optimisation of the 4G sites are complete. According to BSNL, more than 65000 sites are already on air, and the remaining 35000 are expected to go live before June 2025.
Subramaniam said that under the tender, BSNL has the power to place an additional or follow-on order on the same tender to TCS. This is what TCS expects to happen as well. BSNL would definitely need more sites across India for a robust 4G experience. Only 1 lakh sites won't be enough.
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Talking about BSNL's 5G, Subramaniam said that as and when BSNL choose the specific sites it needs to upgrade to 5G and the band it wants to deploy 5G on, TCS will carry the upgrades. He confirmed that TCS has already demonstrated the capablity to do the upgrades, and the talks around the spectrum band to be used is ongoing.
BSNL's spectrum portfolio includes airwaves in the following bands - 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2500 MHz, and 3500 MHz. BSNL is already deploying 4G in the 700 MHz band, and that would enable the company in offering an excellent coverage experience to the users.
